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The Ballad of Bob Dylan
A Portrait
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Narrated by:
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Bronson Pinchot
About this listen
The Ballad of Bob Dylan is a vivid, full-bodied portrait of one of the most influential artists of the 20th-century - a man widely regarded as the most important lyricist America has ever produced.
Acclaimed poet and biographer Daniel Mark Epstein frames Dylan against the backdrop of four seminal concerts - all of which he attended: Lisner Auditorium, Washington, D.C., 1963; Madison Square Garden, New York City, 1974; Tanglewood, Massachusetts, 1997; Aberdeen, Maryland, 2009. Recreating each performance song by song, Epstein places them within the larger context of Dylan's life, from his meteoric rise as a young folk singer through his reemergence in the 1990s and his role as the éminence grise of rock-and-roll today. He explores the star's private side, including marriage and fatherhood, and his struggle to overcome substance abuse. Epstein also traces the influences that shaped Dylan's career and offers a thoughtful analysis of his work and fresh interpretations of his lyrics. Here, too, are anecdotes and insights from those closest to the man, including D. A. Pennebaker, Allen Ginsberg, Nora Guthrie, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, and Dylan's sidemen throughout the years.
Beautifully written, The Ballad of Bob Dylan is a unique, eye-opening portrait of an artist who has transformed generations and continues to inspire and surprise today. A bonus PDF file of pictures from the book is included.
Download the accompanying picture file.©2011 Daniel Mark Epstein. All rights reserved. (P)2011 AudioGoListeners also enjoyed...
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Performance
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Bob Dylan's Chronicles: Volume One explores the critical junctions in his life and career. Through Dylan's eyes and open mind, we see Greenwich Village, circa 1961, when he first arrives in Manhattan. Dylan's New York is a magical city of possibilities: smoky, nightlong parties; literary awakenings; transient loves and unbreakable friendships. Elegiac observations are punctuated by jabs of memories, penetrating and tough.
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Understanding
- By Charles on 11-24-04
By: Bob Dylan
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Positively 4th Street
- By: David Hajdu
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Positively 4th Street is a mesmerizing account of how four young people (Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Mimi Baez Farina, and Richard Farina) gave rise to a modern-day bohemia and created the enduring sound and style of the 1960s.
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Lousy reader ruins otherwise interesting history
- By Barbara on 10-20-04
By: David Hajdu
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Chronicles Volume 1
- By: Bob Dylan, Kathrin Passig, Gerhard Henschel
- Narrated by: Wolfgang Niedecken
- Length: 5 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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"Wenn du so ein Buch schreibst, musst du die Wahrheit sagen." (Bob Dylan) Diesem Motto hat sich Dylan in seinen Chronicles verschrieben und erzählt selbst von seinen Anfängen in der Country-Szene in den 1960er Jahren. Der Musiker beschreibt mit Herzblut und Leidenschaft wie er um seine künstlerische Identität kämpfen und seine Familie vor der Öffentlichkeit schützen musste. In atemberaubenden Worten erklärt der Künstler seinen Wechsel von Folk zu Rock und was es heißt die großen Bühnen der Welt zu touren.
By: Bob Dylan, and others
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Tarantula
- By: Bob Dylan
- Narrated by: Will Patton, Dennis Boutsikaris - Preface
- Length: 3 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Written in 1966, Tarantula is a collection of poems and prose that evokes the turbulence of its time and provides a unique perspective on Bob Dylan’s creative evolution. It captures Dylan at a crucial juncture in his artistic development, showcasing the imagination of a revolutionary musician who was able to combine the humanity and compassion of his folk music roots with the surrealism of modern art and the intensity of the Delta blues. Angry, funny, and elusive, the poems and prose in this collection reflect the concerns found in Dylan’s most seminal music.
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Dylan at his Weirdest
- By Connor on 12-09-19
By: Bob Dylan
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Dylan
- The Biography
- By: Dennis McDougal
- Narrated by: Gary Bennett
- Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Bob Dylan is an internationally best-selling artist, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, and an Oscar winner for Things Have Changed. His career is stronger and more influential than ever. How did this happen, given the road to oblivion he seemed to choose more than two decades ago? What transformed a heroin addict into one of the most astonishing literary and musical icons in American history?
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Dylan!
- By Dawanna Lopez on 01-31-25
By: Dennis McDougal
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The World of Bob Dylan
- By: Sean Latham
- Narrated by: Kerry Shale, John Chancer, Barbara Barnes, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Bob Dylan is a singular figure defined by a lifetime of creative invention that has helped transform music, literature, pop culture, and even politics. This book provides a lively, accessible look at his art and music as seen by leading rock and pop critics and music scholars. The chapters are carefully integrated so that listeners can take quick dives into specific topics ranging from the Blues to religious faith, civil rights, and American literature.
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The Wirld of bob dylan
- By Lucy J. jANUSZ on 07-28-22
By: Sean Latham
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The Philosophy of Modern Song
- By: Bob Dylan
- Narrated by: Bob Dylan, Jeff Bridges, Steve Buscemi, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Dylan, who began working on the book in 2010, offers his insight into the nature of popular music. He writes over sixty essays focusing on songs by other artists, spanning from Stephen Foster to Elvis Costello, and in between ranging from Hank Williams to Nina Simone. He analyzes what he calls the trap of easy rhymes, breaks down how the addition of a single syllable can diminish a song, and even explains how bluegrass relates to heavy metal. These essays are written in Dylan’s unique prose. And while ostensibly about music, they are really meditations on the human condition.
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Needs chapter headings
- By kaon on 12-22-22
By: Bob Dylan
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Small Town Talk
- Bob Dylan, The Band, Van Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Friends in the Wild Years of Woodstock
- By: Barney Hoskyns
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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When musicians in the New York folk scene of the 1960s grew tired of city life, they decided to "get it together in the country". They headed for Woodstock - not to the site of the infamous music festival of 1969 but to the Catskills, to Bearsville, to Woodstock proper. Counterculture revolutionaries like Janis Joplin, Richie Havens, and Paul Butterfield got "back to the land", turning the once sleepy hollow into a funky Shangri-La.
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Captured the era - too many mistakes
- By Frank Canino on 04-17-16
By: Barney Hoskyns
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That Thin, Wild Mercury Sound
- Dylan, Nashville, and the Making of Blonde on Blonde
- By: Daryl Sanders
- Narrated by: Graham Halstead
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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That Thin, Wild Mercury Sound is the definitive treatment of Bob Dylan's magnum opus, Blonde on Blonde, not only providing the most extensive account of the sessions that produced the trailblazing album but also setting the record straight on much of the misinformation that has surrounded the story of how the masterpiece came to be made. Including many new details and eyewitness accounts, as well as keen insight into the Nashville cats who helped Dylan reach rare artistic heights, it explores the lasting impact of rock's first double album.
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Some good moments overall
- By Bozobob on 03-28-19
By: Daryl Sanders
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Here Comes the Sun
- The Spiritual and Musical Journey of George Harrison
- By: Joshua M. Greene
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Joshua Greene, who studied meditation with the legendary Beatle George Harrison, draws on personal remembrances, recorded conversations, and firsthand accounts to create a moving portrait of Harrison's spiritual life, his profound contribution to the Beatles' music, and previously unpublished anecdotes about his time with music legends Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, and others.
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A great read
- By Joshua Deal on 12-14-20
By: Joshua M. Greene
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Delta Blues
- The Life and Times of the Mississippi Masters Who Revolutionized American Music
- By: Ted Gioia
- Narrated by: Chris Abernathy
- Length: 17 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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The blues grew out of the plantations and prisons, the swampy marshes and fertile cotton fields of the Mississippi Delta. With original research and keen insights, Ted Gioia - the author of a landmark study of West Coast jazz and the critically acclaimed The History of Jazz - brings to life the stirring music of the Delta, evoking the legendary figures who shaped its sound and ethos: Robert Johnson, Charley Patton, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, Howlin' Wolf, B. B. King, and others.
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A well-researched history of the blues
- By Joselo on 08-19-21
By: Ted Gioia
What listeners say about The Ballad of Bob Dylan
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- L chandler
- 12-22-11
Excellent book, excellent narration
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Absolutely, if they had an interest in subject matter.
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Ballad of Bob Dylan?
I was touched by some of the more personal anecdotes of Mr Dylan's often gentle and generous behavior towards others. That's really silly, i know, but I was touched.
What does Bronson Pinchot bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Uh .. the ability to
Any additional comments?
Recommend to Dylan fans. Very enjoyable.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Jane W
- 02-26-23
Enlightening. Honest. Invaluable.
I’ve read several Bob Dylan biographies. So many of us have. Often they feel as if the author has something to prove. This book had me from page one until the end. I appreciate the tone and the structure and the generosity. There are so many books about Bob Dylan, the greatest songwriter I have ever known. I hope this book lives on for decades to come, and I hope young songwriters will read it and grow, thanks to the insight and beauty presented here. Only a poet could write such a nuanced and careful book. If you love Bob Dylan, and if you love songwriting, this is the book you need. I’ll recommend this book for decades to come.
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- Daniel
- 12-31-24
Personal and perceptive
I’ve read and listened to many books on Bob Dylan. This is one a few that really stand out. A generous and effecting honesty presented with nuanced context. Beautifully written.
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- matt
- 01-30-12
Mona Lisa must have had the highway blues
What would have made The Ballad of Bob Dylan better?
Stick to talking about Dylan. No one cares that you were the first to hear him. Bob PROBABLY(a word you should consider) would cringe when you tell us what timing his songs were in and why. Can you tell by the way he smiled?
What do you think your next listen will be?
War and peace
Which scene was your favorite?
When she gave the author a cookie.
What character would you cut from The Ballad of Bob Dylan?
Author
Any additional comments?
What would Dylan say to the following questions the author ?answers?
The crowed applauded extra loud to this song because we ALL felt...
Dylan blinked before playing this next song because(not an exaggeration)...
By the way just say you thought Dylan looked like the coolest guy ever, it's ok it's how you feel when you talk about how soft his cheeks are.
You're the kind of guy that can't do anything on his own so you give yourself the #1 hootenanny award and feel like you playing the song for someone is as important as Dylan playing it. I think it's called living vicariously but you're the author you tell me.
I bet you use to play George carlin for girls too!
Bob
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2 people found this helpful
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- Oliver Nielsen
- 01-05-14
Not a Walter Isaacson biography, that's for sure
What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?
Couldn't get into this. It's scattered and feels like as if the author found all anecdotes and news articles on Bob Dylan, threw them all up in the air, and used the resulting structure. That is: there isn't one. No structure. Additionally, the author can apparently read the minds of the people he's writing about.
It makes it very very uninteresting to listed to. Imagine sitting next to an ego-tripping person at a wedding or birthday dinner. That would be almost unbearable, listening to such a person talk and talk and talk, for around 3 hours.
This book, is 15 hours. THAT is unbearable. Even at 2x speed;)
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